Rotary steam-engine



(No Model.) V

P. STEINKOENIG. ROTARY STEAM ENGINE.

, No. 563,814, Patented July 14, 18.96.

p Be it kHO li that I, FREDERICK STEINKOE- I NIG, a citizen of the United States, residing number of fixed obutm'ents for the steam to the casin g, and the main shaft and a port-ion and its accessories being sectioned. Fig. 3 is ii Prion.

Pnrnn FREDERICK STEINKOENIG, OF CINCINNATI, OHIO.

ROTARY STEAM-ENGlNE.

EPEQ1FIQATIO1T forming part of Letters Patent No. 563,814, dated uly 14, 1896.

Serial No. 582,770. (No model.)

To allZ whom it may concern.-

at Cincinnati, in the county of Hamilton and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Rotary Steam-Eng gines; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, reference being had tothe an-' nexed drawings, which form a part of this specification. j v

This invention relates to those motors commonly known as rotary steam-engines, and the first part of myimprovements includes a novel combination of outer casing; a hub fitted steam tight therein and'fastened to the main shaft; one or more pistons adaptedto reciprocate within said hub; a corresponding react against; an induction and eduction port for each piston, and a valve or valves driven by geared connections with said shaft for the purpose of admitting'steam to the engine, as hereinafter more fully described.

The second part of my improvements comprises a novel combination of devices wherewith two sections of a rotary engine-piston are simultaneously forced outward, so as to cause their. faces to wear uniformly as they sweep around Within the concave surface of the casing, as hereinafter more fully d escribed a In. the annexed drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation of my improved rotary steam-engine, one of the heads being detached. from of said casing being sectioned. Fig.2 is a plan of said engine, one of the steam-chests.

ail-enlarged vertical section of the hub, taken in the plane of its piston E, the latter and the devices that force it outwardly being shown in elevation. 'Fig. 4 isastill greater enlarged horizontal section through said piston. Fig. 5 is a similar section of one of the counterpart members of said piston. Fig. 6 shows one form of device for counterbalancing the pistons.

Referring to Fig. 2, A A represent a pair of journal-bearings for amain shaftB, which latter may have a band-wheel b for transmitting the power of the engine for any purpose.

Keyed or otherwise securely fastened to this shaft is a hub 0, made in the shape. of a cyl-" inder, but having longitudinal openings to diminish its weight. Furthermore, this vcylindrical hub has a pair of parallel slots D D running'th'rough'it from end to end and situ-- ated on opposite side of the shaft. B, reciprocating pistons E E being fitted within said slots. These pistons are constructed in a very peculiar way; but as they are exactly alike, a description of one will be sufficient for both of them.

Now by referring to Figs. 3 and 4, it will be noticed that the piston E is composed of two similar sections or counterpart members F F, whose flat inner faces are in contact with each other, and provided with one or more transverse grooves G G to admit coiled springs H, that shift said members laterally. Again,

the semembers have ledges or flanges ff,

to force them outwardly with a yielding pressure, each follower being carried bya pair of springs J J, as more clearly seenin Fig.

. .d d are sockets in the hub to admit the'inner ends of the springs, and t' i" are pins pro jectin g from the followers and traversing the outer ends of said springs.

The casing, within which the hub revolves is a casting K, so" formed as to atford a pair ofv diametrically-opposite 'SGHIlGIQSCGHi shaped chambers L L, each of which has an inclined abutment Z Z at its larger or receiving end, and then gradually runs down to nothing at its discharging end. .m m are induction-ports traversing these abutment-s and communicating with steam-chests M M,

each chest being provided with a simple slid- 1 ing valve or cut-off plate, one of which is seen at N, while the other o'neis indicated by the dotted lines Ni.

n is the stem of the val ie N, and c is 'a rod connecting said stem with the wrist of a disk or crank O, capable of being so adjustedaround a counter-shaft P as to regulate the stroke of valve N and cause it to cut oif at any desired place.

branches "If r proceeding an escape-pipe;

. periphery of the hub O by cated by the featherless arrow,

Shaft P is journa-led i. a, bucket Q, projecting froma head of the oasir g K, and hav ing a bevel-pinion 17 eng, tged with a master wheel Z) of the main shaii B. p is a similar pinion engaged with said wheel and serving to turn another counterl aft IE journaled in a bracket Q, and canyii ga vrist-plate 0 whose oonnect-ing-rodo operates the stem 11' of a valve N, fitted within the chest M, th: two chests M M being supplied with s1 cam by from a com non inlet-pipe R. I

S is an eduction-port leading .9, to which an escape-pipe s l is another eduction-po1t5 i,

igs

U U are packing-plates h are heads bolted to the c lSll K ner shown.

The operation of my rotaly eng readily understood by r fer-ring which illustration shows that etc the casing through the 101 ts m n l6 lllil-ll will be Fi 1, l enters as indi-' and acts against the pistons E E rnl abutments I, and as the latter are immovable it s evid ant said pistons must sweep ar und within said casing, and thereby turn the hub O and its attached shaft 13.

It is also evident that the pistons are the most fully protruded from the hub vhen they are near the abutments I K, but as they retracted within the slotsD D on account of the eccentric shape of the chambers. L L; Consequently, by the time the pistons have about reached the cduction-ports S '1, said pistons will be fully retracted, this automatic action of said devices E E being permitted by the proper expansion and contraction of the springs J J. It willthus be seen that said springs preserve the faces of the pistons in close contact with the inner surfaces of the casing, while the other springs H hold the edges of said pistons snugly against the heads V V. Thercfore'the pistons play steamtight within the casing, and without being fitted so closely therein as to cause excessive friction, and thereby detract from the power of the engine.

As the pistons are acted on by thelivcstcam the waste steam on their opposite sides is being driven out through the eduction-p'orts, as indicated by the feathered arrow in Fig. 1, and by properly setting the valves N N the inlets 'm in will be closed in time to prevent steam blowing through the engine and escaping at the pipes 5"2. Again, by adjusting the wrist-plates O O the valves can be closed at any point to produce the desired cut-oil.

.nection that can be made between the piper the engine is driven at a- Very high V lVhen speed, th e centrifugal velocity tends to thr the pist ns outwardly and produce such an extra amount of friction between them and 6 the casing as to diminish the power very materially, but by adopting the construction seen in Fig. 6 this difficultywill be overcome. Here the piston E" is cut away at c to admit a blocklV, having a pin to traversing a slot L1) in 7 one end of a lever X, whose other end is loaded at a". This lever is pivoted to a lug Y of th hub, and by properly adjusting or loading the weight w, any desired retarding influence can be exerted against the pist 11. It is cvi lent the weight CU will partake of the centrifugal Velocity of the engine, and j 1st in propc rtion as said weight tends to fly 0 itwardly, it will pull back on the piston rnd thus overcome great amount of unncccsa sary friction.

The dotted lines it" in Fig. 1 indicate a con and the cavity containing the packing-plate of the masterovheel Z1, which arrangement is code therefrom said pistons are gradually roe U, in order that the latter may be fnrccd out 3 5 with live steam, thereby dispensing with the spring u. Finally, it willbe noticed that the bevcl-pinions p p are one half the diameter necessary to properly work the val es for a 9: pair of pistons; but if the engiue sh uld have three pistons, said pinions would then be onethird the diameter of said wheel.

I claim, as my invention .1- In. arotary team-epgiuc,.the 'ewiolying; o5 hub O,'ha ing pairof pockets (Z-df, a slot D, the twopart piston F f, F f", reciprocating within said slot; the follower 'loearing against the inner end of said piston; the springs J, J, being seated within said sockets, and supporting said follower, and pins i, t", that project from the latter and enter said springs, for the purpose described.

2 The combination, in a rotary steam-eugine, of the casing having a pair of inlets m, m, and outlets S, T, and a pair of chambers L L, that gradually diminish, in the manner described; a hub O fitted within said casing, and secured to the main shaft B, a pair of pistons E, 1" reciprocating within said hub; valves N, N, that control said inlets m, m, counter-shafts P, I that operate said valves, by suitable connections; and bevel-gears b, that communicate motion from said main shaft 13, to said counter-shafts l, I, all as herein. described.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

FREDERICK STEIN K ()EN I G.

\l'itn csscs:

Janos ILYLAYMAN, Sioux Roonns.

It is hereby certifi'edthat in Patent No. 563,814, granted J uly 14,1896,up0n the application of Frederick smi'nkoeni of Cincinnati, OhioQfor an improvement in Rotary-Steam-Eng'mes, an error appears in the x inted specification requifing 001: .reotion as. foliofi': In line 72,1;age 1, the! words the sme'mbers" should read these members and that the said Letters Patent should be read with this orreotiou therein that the same may conform toth e record of fihe ease in the Patent- Oflice Signed, bqunters igned, and sealed this 28th day of J fily, A. 1)., 1896 [SEqLLJ 7 WM. H. SIMS, 7

r First As sistant Secretary of the Interior, Cou'ntersigned:

- JOHN S. SEYMOUR,

Comm zlsaioner of Patents. 

